NEW DELHI, April 11 (Xinhuanet) -- Asserting that population control was not a majority or minority issue, Indian Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani on Sunday called for incentives for bringing a two-child norm to the country.

    "It is not a question of majority and minority. If it is an educated family, it would adopt two-child norm irrespective of its religious belief," he said in Janjgir in Chhattisgarh state in central India while on his campaign tour around the country.

    "I am happy to note that my suggestion for strictly imposing the two-child norm for families to ensure that the gains of development are not dissipated by a population explosion has been incorporated in the Bharatiya Janata Party's vision document and also the National Democratic Alliance manifesto," the Press Trust of India quoted Advani as saying.

    Both at macro and individual level, it was necessary to reward those states and families who had played their part in meeting the goals and targets of national population policy, he said.

    "We must allay the fears of states, especially the four southern ones who believe that they are being discriminated against precisely because they have managed to strike the right balance between economic development and population growth," he added.

    The deputy prime minister also believed that there was a need for blending of incentives and disincentives so that all Indian families in future abide by the two-child norm. "I reassert my earlier suggestion of debarring those who violate the two-child norm from holding public office," he said.

    He said that in the 2003 budget, tax incentives were given to families for cost incurred for the education of two children. He would like the next finance minister to consider extending tax breaks for those who keep to the two-child norm.

    India has a population of more than 1 billion people, the second pupulous country in the world next to China. Because India has not applied for strict family-planning policy as China, experts say India might surpass China in population before 2020. Enditem